What a Business Plan Isn’t

Because a business plan is a sales document, it is intended to sell the reader. It isn’t intended to sell the writer. Be realistic about what to expect from a business plan. A lot more planning and thinking is needed about the business than you can find in the business plan. Some important things to remember:

• Don’t expect a finished plan to be a roadmap of everything you need to do to have a successful business. That isn’t the purpose of the business planning process. A traditional business plan is intended only to document your strategies for the business very briefly – but well enough to get funding. If you are hoping for something that will tell you how to market or how many people you need to hire, you will have to start with a deep strategic planning process, and probably buy lots of consulting time to get you going.

• Don’t expect a great a business plan from a poor business model. If your costs are too high to make your business profitable, the business planning process will help you discover that. Then it will be up to you to make the hard decisions about changing your costs structure to make the business work. The business planning consultant is a skilled professional, not a miracle worker. A good business plan can help you highlight your strengths and minimize your weaknesses, but it cannot make an poor business model into a thriving business.

• Don’t go on to start a business or make changes in your current business if everything in the business planning process tells you it won’t work. Things don’t get better out in the real world if they don’t work on paper. Deal with the weaknesses – get more training, consider product redevelopment, or have a home-based business to reduce costs until you can sustain the rent for an office. Businesses fail finally because they’ve run out of money. If your plan tells you that you can’t make enough money to make the business work for the long run, pay attention to that reality.